Is Neb a dwarf or a gnome?

[Miloch]

I thought I'd try to get to the bottom of this "little" problem. In BG1, the character Neb whom you speak with in the prisons is a gnome. Neb talks about mixing some "illusioncraft with his thievery" (string #16952) and the PC gets a chance to berate Neb's "gnomish soul" (#16963).

 

BG2 on the other hand seems to go the other way. It refers to Neb as a dwarf at strings 2088, 47721, 49000, 49931, 49943, 49950, 50122 and 74972 (not sure if all these are used though - many are duplicates). It calls him a gnome at string 49948. So although the references to dwarf seem to outweigh those to gnome in BG2, Neb actually *is* a gnome in BG2 (something the Fixpack changes, along with the GTU changing the gnome reference).

 

Although Neb is coded as a plain thief and has no illusionist spells, there is some evidence he's an illusionist/thief, as the stats match in many cases, and he gets both levels appropriately as he would to split the XP between them. Also weighing in are the graphics picturing Neb. I won't show the actual images for those who aren't familiar, but here's a "cleaned up" headshot:

So I'm looking for opinions on his race as well as ways in which you'd address the inconsistency between games if you pick one or the other. For example, if you think he's a dwarf, would you change the Ill/Thief and gnome references BG1, and if he's a gnome, would there be anything inconsistent about making him such in BG2? (I'm more interested in consistency opinions at this point, not classifying this as a "fix" or "tweak" - we'll sort that out later).

[Fyorl]

He's definitely a gnome. I'd change BG2 to reflect that.

[Guest Guest]

Everybody knows that so-called "Dwarves" are just Gnomes with fake beards and a heavy intake of steroids.

It was part of an evil plot on the part of the Gnomes to make themselves appear as two distinct races so that they could cash-in on the royalties payed by Messrs Gygax and Arneson to use their likeness.

[Domi]

Neb is a gnome. As is Tiax. I don't know why BioWARE tried to turn all the gnomes in BG2, probably overcompensating for Gaider's personal dislike of the gnomes? Or maybe it's the fact that they never bothered with gnomish-specific animations?

[G-Mon]

Everybody knows that so-called "Dwarves" are just Gnomes with fake beards and a heavy intake of steroids.

It was part of an evil plot on the part of the Gnomes to make themselves appear as two distinct races so that they could cash-in on the royalties payed by Messrs Gygax and Arneson to use their likeness.

Canman?!